Page 37 of Stuck on the Slopes

“When I first met you, I’d have said no way, but now I can see it.”

“When we first met, I probably wasn’t in the headspace to do karaoke at all. But if you ever wanna go out, ‘Dancing Queen’ is my go-to song.”

“Of course it is.” He flashed me a rare smile, one where he showed his teeth, and it made my heart stop. At any moment now, the heart rate monitor on my watch would probably ask me if I needed an ambulance.

“Don’t act like you don’t have any guilty pleasures! You know all of mine: shitty movies, reality TV, and karaoke. No way you don’t have at least one.”

He sucked his teeth as he considered it. “I talk to Sasquatch sometimes, if that counts.”

“No way! That’s so cute.”

“He was the only one I had to talk to for years. The habit stuck.” He glanced at me and said, “I never thought I’d talk to someone else again, like the way we do. So, thanks, I guess.”

After that confession, the thought of teasing him further felt cruel. I lowered the speed on my stair machine so I wouldn’t sound as winded when I spoke. “Juniper, you don’t have to thank me for talking to you.”

“Well, I am anyway. If I were you and I met me? I’d have told me to fuck myself.”

“You know, there were a few times I considered that.”

“Ha! Good on you. I have no such filter.”

“So I’ve seen. But I like that about you.”

There was a lot I liked about him.

“I’d wager you’d be the first. Not that it matters to me if people like me or not. I’d rather everyone think I’m an asshole and leave me alone, you know? But you,” Juniper said, “you didn’t care. You thought I was an asshole and kept at it, anyway.”

“You jump between crass and caring. It made it easy for me to see right through that hard shell.”

“Once again, that would make you the first.” He paused and then said, “Oh, I love this song.”

Sensing he didn’t want to get too emotional this early, I put the volume up on my phone, letting it play louder for the both of us. We spent the next twenty minutes in otherwise silence with Juniper occasionally laughing at me mouthing along and swaying my hips as I climbed the stair machine.

When our thirty minutes were up, Juniper reached over to hand me back my earbud. “Were you working out at nights before?”

“Yeah, but my cold over the weekend threw my sleep schedule all out of whack. Either that or I’m finally adjusted to the time zone difference.”

“You’re welcome to join me in the mornings. I don’t mind.”

We cleaned the machines in synchronization. “You’re not sick of me yet?”

His only answer was a wink before he walked out the door.

Chapter 11

Juniper

Whenlunchtimerolledaround,Rachel and I made our way into The Elk’s Head together. The hostess greeted us with a nod and directed us to where Edgar and Mia waited, already seated at a table with a basket of honey wheat rolls. Rachel sat directly across from Mia who was already picking at her bread, leaving me to sit across from Edgar.

We needed a new name. There was no more putting it off. Between the four of us, I figured we’d be able to come up with something.

Rachel was quick to get her laptop on the table, situating it between the two of us so I could see all the notes she jotted down. It took everything in me to not stare at her, especially after working out together this morning.

At the gym, I’d had a hard time keeping my eyes off her as she trained her lower body, and since she said nothing, I assumed I hadn’t been caught in staring at her ass in her tight workout pants when she squatted more weight than I could. Her curves drew me in, worse than any forbidden fruit.

But as I rolled my flannel sleeves up, I caught her glance at my forearms. Her eyes lingered there longer than normal before she darted them back to her water, which she took a sip of before she said, “Alright, I’ve got a spreadsheet officially ready for suggestions.”

What was she looking at my arms for? I examined them, checking to make sure I hadn’t accidentally landed on a butter dish for the bread but found nothing.

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